Journal of Organizational Ethnography Pub Date : 2020-12-11 , DOI: 10.1108/joe-09-2020-0036 Beate Sløk-Andersen , Alma Persson
Purpose
This article explores the analytical gains of what we refer to as “awkward ethnography.” How might our understanding of organizational phenomena benefit from those unexpected moments when our observations are laughed at, when our questions cause discomfort, or when we feel like a failure? While such instances seem to be an inherent aspect of organizational ethnography, they are often silenced or camouflaged by claims of intentionality. This article takes the opposite approach, arguing for the analytical value of awkwardness.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw on their respective ethnographic fieldwork in the Danish and Swedish armed forces. Based on observations, participation and interviews in two military units, the analysis focuses on situations that rarely find their way into final research publications. These will be explored as analytically productive material that can provide crucial insights into the organizational context studied.
Findings
The authors’ analysis demonstrates that awkward situations that arise during ethnographic work not only bring about unforeseen insights; they also enable vital analytical opportunities for discovering silent knowledge in the organization which researchers might otherwise not have considered to inquire about or understood the gravity of.
Research limitations/implications
Implied in the suggested methodological approach for ethnographers is an acceptance of awkward situations as productive encounters. This means doing away with ideals for (ethnographic) knowledge production steered by notions of objectivity, instead embracing the affective dimensions of fieldwork.
Originality/value
This research addresses a key, and often silenced, aspect of ethnographic fieldwork, and stresses the unique value of the unintended and unexpected when doing ethnography.
中文翻译:
尴尬的民族志:组织研究中尚未开发的资源
目的
本文探讨了我们所谓的“笨拙的人种志”的分析收益。当我们嘲笑观察,问题引起不适或感到失败时,那些意外的时刻会对我们对组织现象的理解有何好处?尽管这种情况似乎是组织人种学的内在方面,但它们常常被意图的主张所掩盖或掩饰。本文采用相反的方法,主张尴尬的分析价值。
设计/方法/方法
作者利用各自在丹麦和瑞典武装部队中的人种志田野调查。根据对两个军事单位的观察,参与和采访,分析着重于很少进入最终研究出版物的情况。这些将作为具有分析性的生产性材料进行探索,可以提供对所研究的组织环境的重要见解。
发现
作者的分析表明,在人种志研究过程中出现的尴尬情况不仅带来了无法预料的见解,而且还带来了无法预料的见解。它们还为发现组织中的无声知识提供了重要的分析机会,否则研究人员可能不会考虑去了解或了解其重要性。
研究局限/意义
对于民族志学家建议的方法论方法暗含了将尴尬的情况视为富有成效的遭遇。这意味着要摒弃客观性观念指导的(民族志)知识生产的理想,而要接受实地调查的情感层面。
创意/价值
这项研究解决了民族志田野调查的一个关键方面,而且常常是沉默的方面,并强调了民族志学中意料之外的和意料之外的独特价值。